California Cantaloupes 'Dig Into The Sweet Stuff' With SF Giants Promotion

Dinuba, CA — California cantaloupe season is off and running with the desert growing areas now shipping to markets throughout the U.S. Meanwhile the California Cantaloupe Advisory Board is busy updating its on-line consumer promotional efforts, which include a new blog and newsletter design and a partnership with the San Francisco Giants that promotes healthy eating.

The California Cantaloupe Advisory Board’s (CCAB) existing blog and newsletter have been rebranded as “The Sweet Stuff” and will be distributed via email two times per month over the summer cantaloupe season. Featured are recipes, usage ideas and consumer contests along with information on cantaloupe farmers and their commitment to producing delicious and safe cantaloupes.  Anyone interested can sign up for the newsletter here.

These same themes are also being featured via full-page advertisements running in the programs distributed at every San Francisco Giants home game this season.  The ad copy will be changed six times over the course of the Giant’s season and will introduce consumers to cantaloupe farmers, share recipes and urge visits to the cantaloupe website. CCAB is also hosting a sweepstakes contest in which consumers can win tickets to the Giant’s home game of their choosing. Four tickets will be given away once a month during May, June, July and August.

“The company which publishes game programs for Major League Baseball contacted us earlier this year and offered us this opportunity to promote a healthy product in the Giants game program this season,” said Garrett Patricio chairman of the CCAB’s promotion and marketing committee.  “The Board felt it was an interesting opportunity to reach an estimated 4 million fans who attend games and will see these programs during California cantaloupe’s peak marketing season.” Patricio explains that five years ago the Cantaloupe Advisory Board added a mandatory food safety program to its approved authorities. 

“That’s also when we began promoting cantaloupes and cantaloupe food safety on social media. The idea was to create an on-line audience of cantaloupe fans via social media and then use interesting usage ideas and recipes to bring them to our website where they can also learn about the measures in place for California cantaloupe safety.”
The plan has worked well. Today the Board has a robust social media following and large dataset of consumers who are cantaloupe fans.

“Our public relations firm, Farmers Communication Exchange, has done a great job of creating interesting videos, graphics and recipes that promote California cantaloupes and communicate about safety issues,” said Patricio noting that, in addition to the newsletter refresh and Giants ad campaign, the firm will also produce a series of interesting new cantaloupe salad recipes in an effort to combat popular on-line campaigns that cast aspersions on melon salads. (Who would do that?!!!)  These recipes will be promoted through the CCAB’s social media sites and will incorporate fast-paced video footage.
The CCAB’s on-line channels can be accessed via its website atwww.californiacantaloupes.com.

Source: California Cantaloupe Advisory Board’s (CCAB)